Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Triple Crown revisited

Food forays: talk about a great reason to commute on a Vespa.

Last week I needed to get a bottle of my favorite olive oil, Fuente Baena.  A bottle lasts me roughly a year.  The most reliable place to get this Spanish delicacy is the Jean Talon market.  It's one of Montreal's foodie go-to venues. Olive & Épices is the boutique that stocks it.

If I commuted by public transit, Jean Talon market would be out of reach.  Well maybe not really, but certainly psychologically.  In all the years I commuted that way, I didn't go there once.

When I commute by car, the trip to the  market is costly and impractical.  I'd end up having to pay twice for parking downtown, and pay for parking at the market.

My Vespa means parking is free, and it zips around traffic congestion, and that makes a trip to the Jean Talon market at lunch time easy-peazy.  You guessed it, I've done this jaunt before.  Quite a few times in fact.

I hadn't eaten yet. Riding north up the Main towards Little Italy gave me time to ponder lunch venues.
Notre Dame de la Defense - Little Italy
I'd been wondering if Triple Crown Dinette was still dishing up southern fare. I had been there before, about two years ago.

I'm very happy to report that they are still very much in business.  The food dished up by what is surely Montreal's smallest restaurant, is simply delicious.

Take a peek at the menu. Guess what I ordered.
That's right.  A gorgeous yummy plate of southern fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, a cornbread biscuit and a delightful concoction of rice, black-eyed peas and diced ham, with just the right kick of spice to make it really nice.
If the perfectly cooked chicken with it's beautifully browned crispy impossibly light crust was the star, the rice medley was the delightfully contrasting understudy.
 Alternating bites of chicken and the scrumptious rice dish, with a taste of the mashed potatoes and a nip of cornbread biscuit... Oh dear!  Lunch was delightful.

The whole affair was complemented with homemade lemonade that was the perfect libation.
Summer on a menu. Nothing less.

This tiny nothing of a restaurant punches way above it's weight.  I would pit them head to head against Vidalia in Washington D.C.  You can read that post here.  I'm really not sure who would win that contest, but I sure would like to judge it.
I guess I have a thing for southern cooking done right.  It's much rarer than it ought to be.

Unable to finish the generous helpings, I apologized profusely, and zipped over to the market to fetch the olive oil.

Lunches before the ScootCommute were never like this.

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10 comments:

Canajun said...

That looks like a great lunch. Will have to add that to our list of places to visit when we next go to Montreal.

David Masse said...

Dave the restaurant literally seats maybe six people.

The usual way people eat here, is asking for the picnic basket. The staff prepare the order, wrap it up in a very nice sturdy wicker basket, with the drinks in mason jars, complete with real plates and cutlery and condiments and sauces, and the diners head over to the park across the street (see the photo in the post) where there are nice places to picnic.

Kind of a unique way to go with great food.

Trobairitz said...

Sure you needed olive oil........ how many bottles do you have stashed away just because you wanted a great lunch spot? I won't tell.

Unknown said...

David:

I'm starting to think that there aren't enough hours in a day to sample all of this delightful food.

Never had southern cooking . . . still waiting for my first chicken steak.

I thought you would have bought some olive oil somewhere in Italy ?

bob
Riding the Wet Coast



Conchscooter said...

Never change a winning team? Two visits, same order, must be good.

David Masse said...

Brandy, I don't hord, I swear. One bottle of the good stuff at a time. That's not to say that there aren't other bottles of olive oil in the pantry.

There's at least one bottle of Il Grezzo, Italian olive oil from Costco. It's good don't get me wrong, but it's not heavenly. There's only one bottle of heavenly.

David Masse said...

Bob, come on back, and you can help. We'll find all that weight you've been losing.

David Masse said...

Michael, you're right. That means I have to go back to try the brisket. More Yum to come :)

Coop a.k.a. Coopdway said...

Does that EVER look good! I could just about jump into that glass of lemonade, it looks that refreshing.

David Masse said...

Doug, that's pretty much what I was thinking when the lemonade came.

They put the ingredients into a big mason jar and give it the old bartender's vigorous shake. It's not for show, because it's not done with a flourish, it's all about taste. Like everything else they serve.

The copyright in all text and photographs, except as noted, belongs to David Masse.